A description of the University of South Florida''s Bachelor of Independent Studies population (current students, terminees, and graduates) and their accomplishments over a fifteen year period helps to clarify a number of nontraditional degree issues. First, the target audience, is people in midlife and midcareer as opposed to the retiree; second, attrition is no more of a special problem for the nontraditional program than for traditional programs; third, enough BIS graduates have earned graduate degrees to challenge the assumption that the BIS credential would be a terminal degree; and fourth, the distance learner fares nearly as well as those close to the campus.